Comments on: Yet another ridiculous study

By: Duane

Duane — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 07:07:28 +0000

ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not something in our genes itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s something in the way that many of us live.

That sums it up completely!

By: DMG

DMG — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:23:48 +0000

Actually there are alot of good doctors at County. It’s the ancillary staff and the group of political cronies that makes county a poor hospital. Being black in the US means that your life expectancy is the lowest of any group, we die disproportionately from violent crime. It’s not something in our genes it’s something in the way that many of us live.

By: Saudia

Saudia — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:32:53 +0000

Wouldn’t go to Stoger unless I was shot. lol. I don’t dispute anything that you say but this study says that being black is a health risk and I say BS.

By: DMG

DMG — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 19:14:05 +0000

Sure it sounds silly when you put together discrimination and poor health. I don’t think that’s what they were getting at…overt discrimination in the hospital (although there have been studies about disparities in treatment offerings). But as the study suggests, there may be a connection between discrimination. I think the BET article concentrated on that part of the study. I think the main point of the study is that even being black was risk factor for poor health. I couldn’t read the entire article but here is the abstract http://jbs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/37/1/83 I think we’d both have to critically read the article and look at the statistics before assessing its validity, Saudia. But I think that their hypothesis is plausible.

By: DMG

DMG — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 19:04:48 +0000

Saudia, I see you are reading my blog, thanks for the shout out. I even started out my response with: “Although, I too believe…”, I still get jumped on. It’s well known that we have the poorest health in the United States. I’m not making that up. Saudia, you are here in Chicago. Go to Stroger, look around and tell me what you see. Ask yourself these questions: Does discrimination occur in hiring? Does lack of a well paying job put one at risk of not having health insurance? Lack of health insurance delays people from seeking regular medical treatment. All I’m saying is that it’s plausible. Poverty, infant mortality, etc are real and impact the black community. Duane none of us are debating the connection between discrimination and acquiring a job. I agree discrimination may not overtly occur in the hospital (although that might be a topic worth discussion, but I’ll have to pull up the paper I’m thinking of). Saudia, I think you are misunderstanding what I’m getting at.

By: Duane

Duane — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:19:09 +0000

But this all brings us back to how one defines discrimination. If a person does not have insurance in this country, discrimination is not the reason. I have yet to hear of any case where, let’s say Asians were “given” the same kind of healthcare that is denied to Blacks. If that has or is happening, then sure that would be discrimination.

By: Saudia

Saudia — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:12:32 +0000

HOGWASH!!!! Duane I am with you on this one. The Good Doc (DMG) has had 1 to many of those daily bowel preps if he thinks that this study has any validity.

By: DMG

DMG — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:26:41 +0000

Although, I too believe the study might be a “little light”, you can see the health discrepancy everyday in any urban hospital. Lack of access to healthcare is a problem. Being discriminated against for a job for example, may lead to unemployment, loss of health insurance, etc. That’s an oversimplification, of course, but you get the point.